On July 13th, 1992, the new Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzchak Rabin, made a speech where he said the following words. “No longer are we necessarily ‘A people that dwells alone’, and no longer is it true that ‘The whole world is against us’. We must overcome the sense of isolation that has held us in its thrall for almost half a century…”
Leaving aside the question of whether Rabin was correct in his vision, the verse he quoted “A people that dwells alone” is a verse from this week’s Parshah. Bilaam, the prophet-for hire (or prophet for a profit) comes to curse the Jewish People, only to have his freedom of speech forcibly impeded by G-d. As Bilaam himself admits, “Only what G-d inserts in my mouth am I capable of saying”. Instead of a deadly curse, a series of praises and blessings emits from Bilaam’s mouth, and one of the most famous of these is the above sentence – “Behold they are a nation that dwells alone, and are not counted among the nations”.
For many of us, and Rabin clearly belonged to this group, this description of the Jewish People is a hard one to swallow, for several reasons. A nation that dwells alone? Separate and cut-off from non-Jews? It seems unpalatable to us. Aren’t we supposed to be a “Light unto the nations”? How is this possible if we are to dwell alone? Furthermore, none other than Rebi Yehuda the Prince, the editor of the Mishnah in approximately the year 189 CE, had a close friend who was a non-Jew – the Roman Emperor Antoninus. Clearly, this verse is not praising the Jewish people for being a reclusive, anti-social nation. What, therefore, is the explanation of this verse?
Perhaps we are able to explain this verse in a very different way. Our founding father, Avraham Avinu, was known as Avraham HaIvri. This name Ivri is explained as being derived from “Me’eiver” – from the other side. Avraham was on the other side. He stood against an entire world who believed in polytheism, child sacrifice and other beliefs. His radical beliefs initially caused him much suffering; they earnt him the suspicion of his generation, and he even survived an execution attempt. But Avraham’s faith and belief in what was right never wavered. He was prepared to be entirely his own man, to take pride in his own beliefs and not cave in to societal pressures. He was, truly, the first Ivri.
This name, Ivri, came to refer to the whole nation of Israel – Ivrim, or Hebrews. The Jewish People follow in the footsteps of our illustrious forbearer, in striving to maintain this free spirit. We must maintain our moral standards in a changing world, clinging to what we know is right, and act in the correct way, ignoring the prevalent fashions and opinions. In every generation, ideals, trends and customs come in and out of fashion. What is correct now was morally abhorrent 100 years ago, and may well be again abhorrent 100 years down the line from now. Our Torah gives us an unchanging, constant prism through which to view life and formulate our opinions.
Dwelling alone means being utterly independent in our thoughts and actions. Human nature is to follow the crowd, to hate to be different and to stick out. We are all influenced by those around us. Bilaam reminds us, be independent. We must not formulate our opinions based solely on what we see and hear around us. Living in the age of social media, where everything is shared, everything is compared and crazes and fads come and go with dizzying speed, this message is so relevant. Let’s not be a nation that follows other nations; let’s not be individuals who follow other individuals. Let’s be people who follow G-d.